


Catch Me If You Can

by nikarte



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, ITS WILD, M/M, and a lot of it is prompto being very... he thinks of himself as a pawn in a game of chess, but yeah theyre like back in lucis and noctis has the ring of lucii, idk how to tag this actually, its not noct in his right mind, its small but its there so i just wanted to warn you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 15:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11039157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikarte/pseuds/nikarte
Summary: Noctis uses the Ring of Lucii too much, and lets it get to himau if they didnt go to the crystal after they'd all gotten prompto back in chapter 13 and went on the road againlots of hurt/anxiety from the boys and its like. most of this is blamed on the ring, but prompto is a very broken boy with a lot of self doubt.





	Catch Me If You Can

**Author's Note:**

> about the brokenness of prompto that i mentioned in the summary. their relationship is still very new, and prompto still has a lot of self doubt on top of them trying to figure out how to keep an emotionally steady relationship just as they were as friends, so it's... very rocky on prompto's side to be honest. i imagine noct notices all of these telltale signs here, and after the events of what happens in this one-shot noct would definitely call prom out on all of this and start working to help him get over this. but i guess i should say that in this one-shot, as all of this is unresolved in this fic, noct is at fault too. spoilers for the game.  
> this is mostly about noct going nuts tho lol enjoy

[ _I don't think you understand where we're going._ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYG11cr26Y)

[ _When you feel it and you know,_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYG11cr26Y)

[ _When the shit's about to blow,_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYG11cr26Y)

[ _And it hits you._ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYG11cr26Y)

[ _**\- Lose Control by Hedley** _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYG11cr26Y)

 

 

 

The first time Noct used the Ring outside of the imperial capital, he was reluctant.

Prompto could see it in the way he twisted it around his finger as they crouched in the bushes. In the way that his eyes flit from his friends and then to the pack of Coeurls that stalked nearby, and in the way that he chewed on his bottom lip instead of telling them what was going on in his mind.

Prompto didn’t need to be told though- Ignis and Gladio probably didn’t either- they could all see it. Well, Ignis could probably feel it more than anything- he always had a way of knowing Noct more than he knew himself.

What Prompto means is that they all _understood._ The Ring was the most powerful weapon they had in their possession, and that made it the most terrifying.

 

It wasn’t long after they’d left Gralea that Gladio had the balls to ask what it felt like to wear it, and it was the flicker of hate, pain and even fear that flared in Noctis’ eyes that made Prompto wish he hadn’t, and that they could just enjoy warmth of the fire at their haven for the night and forget the Ring ever existed.

“Wearing it is fine.” Noct had said after a few beats of silence, stretching his fingers out to look down at the Ring with a small frown. “When I don’t think about it, it’s just a ring. Using it is… something else though. It’s like…” he took a ragged inhale through the nose and leaned back in his campsite chair to look at the stars. “It burns when I use it, but it’s also really cold. It’s fluid, and that’s what makes it easy to use- even the very first time I used it, it was easy and just felt natural. But it’s like liquid fire, burning ice. Fire so cold it’s freezing and ice so hot it scalds.”

The only light in his eyes was the reflection of the fire, and it had hurt Prompto to have to see him like that.

“The feeling is like... it obviously starts in just my hand but the more I use it, the longer I use it, it spreads up my arm and just shoots around my body, spreading like a sort of wildfire.” His voice turned slightly angry as he continued, and the others were stone still. “And yeah whilst the physical pain is there, it’s not as controlling as the things it does to _my mind_. It hurts, but the _power_. The power that comes with it makes it easy to ignore the pain that sort of… ties itself to my veins. The way I suddenly have control of everything, the way I can just _get rid_ of the shits that started this whole thing and watch them struggle and disappear into _nothing_ makes it so easy to ignore the burning in my body.”

It was only then that he blinked, suddenly realised what he was saying, and Prompto was sure Noct was thankful that he was the only one close enough to see the moisture in his eyes.

“That’s what makes it fucking scary though, you know? Like… like _that_ just then? I didn’t- I don’t know where it comes from it’s just. Of course, after every time I use it, I feel _awful_. It feels like cheating. _The fact_ that I can control them, stop them from living, rip a hole in reality and suck them into it, makes me feel like I’m worse than them. A-and the fact that _whilst_ I’m doing it, I don’t care and don’t think twice, is scarier.”

“Noct-” Ignis interjected. Prompto noticed the way he’d remained the most still between the four of them whilst Noctis spoke, and he caught onto the fact that even though he couldn’t see the swarm in Noctis’ eyes like Prompto could, Ignis would have heard and _felt_ more than any of them. “Noct, this isn’t something that can control you. _You_ wear the Ring, and that means _you_ have control over what it does and who it affects. The very fact that you’re worried about how it acts proves that you are worthy of bearing this weapon. The Kings of Lucis know this, and that’s why they let you keep it when you first put it on. They trust you to remain in control.”

“Yeah,” Gladio cut in. “And even so, it’s not like you _have_ to use it _all_ the time. Maybe just for like, times we’re in a pinch or too tired to be bullshitting around.”

“Gladio,” Ignis warned, tilting his head in Gladio’s general direction. “Noctis doesn’t ever have to use the Ring again if he doesn’t need to if that’s what he wants.” He turned back to Noct, speaking to him more directly. “You use the Ring as and when you think it necessary. We trust you to be able to handle it. Its power exists to be used for Lucis’ enemies, and that’s why you have it. We’re here to provide guidance if it’s needed, but the Ring fits _you_.”

It’s conversations like that night that always made Prompto feel like the oddball he is. He always felt like he was intruding on these moments- that he wasn’t _meant_ to be there with Noctis as Ignis and Gladio were. It was their jobs to be there and help Noct with all of this… saving Lucis from the daemons and growing into a King fit to lead Insomnia thing. Not Prompto’s. The others probably only saw him as Noctis’... _playmate_.

He hates to think that way. Because even at Gralea, they’d told him that he’s _one of them_. And he should trust them. He just can’t help those feelings sometimes.

But this is about Noctis and the Ring, not Prompto’s feelings.

 

“Are you sure about this, Noct?” Ignis in the present asks, keeping one ear facing the pack of Coeurls behind the bush beside them. “After what you said about the Ring I wasn’t sure you’d want to.”

“I mean, I would be lying if I said I don’t think you should. I’m pretty eager to see what that baby can do-”

“ _Gladio_.” Iggy scolds- it’s enough for him to clamp his mouth shut. “When you’re ready, Noct. _If_ you’re ready.”

Prompto’s lips press into a thin line, his eyes never leaving Noctis. He wants to reach out to him, and smooth the wrinkles on his nose and beneath his eyes where he’s scowling with his fingers. He wants to stop him from chewing so badly on his lip by pressing his own against them, and run his hands through Noct’s hair to help his tense shoulders relax, like he does for him when he can’t sleep.

But he doesn’t. Because there are more pressing matters at hand and Noct would probably want to be able to do this on his own. So instead Prompto just says, “Hey, we’re right here.” Noctis turns to look at him, unlike when Ignis or Gladio spoke. Prompto can’t help but feel warm about that. Especially when Noct’s eyes soften when they make contact. So Prom just smiles at him gently. “We can rush them with a blindspot tech attack if you want. You don’t have to do anything alone.”

But they’re all tired, and these things take a while to wear down, so a quick fix would be a godsend round about now.

Instead of saying that though, he summons up the courage to put his hand on top of Noct’s and runs his thumb over the smooth skin on the back. Again, Noct seems to loosen his muscles just a little.

“No.” He sighs, eyes closing as he gently moves his hand away from Prompto’s, not before quickly turning it over and giving the blonde’s hand a squeeze. “No, I want to get used to it. N-not the… mass murder thing. The feeling of using it.”

With that he takes a deep breath, before pushing himself to his feet.

Prompto watches, worrying the skin on his thumb between his teeth as Noctis takes a few steps away from the three of them to step through the bushes and towards the cheetah-like creatures that are prowling in the grass.

Noct lifts the Ringed hand up towards the sky, and Prompto feels a mix of sickness and eagerness. Sick because he knows how Noct feels about this. But eager because this is the first time he’s used the Ring in front of them; he hadn’t needed to once he’d found the others- they’d fight with or for him and he also had his father’s sword.

But nothing happens. Noct’s hand stays raised towards the sky and his shoulders continue to rise and fall heavily, and his legs are parted in a wide stance as he stares at the Coeurls, but they’re still shaking. And Prompto can see _it_ on his face. The worry and fear of what’s about to happen.

Gladio sees it too, and taps Ignis on the shoulder to signal that they need to lend him a hand.

The three of them stand by Noctis just as the creatures start to notice that they’re all there, and Noct’s hand lowers slightly.

“N-not yet. I’ll just use the regular uhm. _Death_ power thing. I don’t want to use Alterna yet.” Gladio’s pat on his shoulder is all the reassurance he needs to know they will be there to fend the stragglers away as he picks the enemies off.

So, he points his open hand towards a Coeurl and grits his teeth. A crimson ball of light blooms from his palm, and Prompto can’t help but think it’s pretty the way the light starts to dance around his hand in neon ribbons and towards the other creatures.

His features tense again though from awe to horror as the ribbons aim for its throat. The Coeurl had started to prowl towards Noct, but as the light grips its neck, it stops moving through its own will. Its eyes widen and claws cling to the ground as the force of the light seems to drag it towards Noct. Prompto’s hands start to get clammy through his gloves and around his pistol as he watches the creature’s eyes widen, and the light fade in them as its muscles tighten.

And just as quickly as it had begun, it’s over. The body drops to the ground before exploding into a small cloud of scarlet light, leaving a ball of it behind for a moment, before even that fades away into nothing.

Prompto can barely move, but manages to twist his face around to look at Noct. His eyes are dimly lit with the same crimson colour, but his face is still a picture of horror. He’s still unnerved by what he’s just done, and Prompto can’t blame him.

“Did… was that Death?” Ignis asks. Prompto shivers as he realises that without even having seen it, Ignis could feel the shift in the air just as he had, but probably worse.

Noct says “Yeah. The uhh… that’s the one where it just drains their life.”

He speaks about it as if it’s not the worst that he’s seen the Ring do. Prompto decides that he doesn’t want to know what Alterna is.

They don’t get time to talk any more about it, because Noct lifts his hand towards another Coeurl and does the same thing. And again. And again. And there are still a few left when Prompto decides he can’t watch anymore, so he makes the mistake of looking at Noct in hopes of slight comfort.

There’s nothing on his face- his features are schooled into an emotionless glare. Or maybe the Ring makes it easy for him not to feel anything as this happens?

No. He must feel something. Because even though his eyes are glowing brighter the more that he uses the Ring and the rest of his face is motionless, his arm is quaking violently. Prompto stiffens when he sees the hand wielding the Ring is encased in what looks like _ash_. The longer the light burns from Noctis’ palm, the further the ash spreads up his arm and towards his shoulder.

And before Prom can decide that enough is enough, Noctis seems to snap out of it and come to the same conclusion. Either that or his magic is running dry, as his fingers slack and his arm drops to his side. He’s panting, and clinging to his right arm as beads of sweat roll down his face and neck.

Prompto moves forward with the intention of resting his hand on Noct’s back, but there are still two enemies left, and they’ve both started to circle where the group of men are stood, so instead he raises his gun, aims and fires.

 

~

 

During the evening the next day, Noctis asks Prompto to go for a walk in the small town of Lestallum with him before they decide they want to sleep, and Prompto can never deny his prince anything, so he tucks his camera away and leaves the hotel room with him.

He can’t help but wish they’d gone to stay at Caem to rest. Lestallum is… weird without Iris and Talcott. He isn’t saying he was jumping at the chance to spend time with them _instead_ of Noct, but his first visit to the area included the reunion with Iris and the meeting of Talcott. To Prompto, they should have come with the Lestallum package.

He thinks this as the two of them walk past the closed-up Cup Noodle van, fingers entwined and swaying slightly between their bodies as they slowly walk down the sandstone steps.

Noct wasn’t usually one for public intimacy, but that day he’d been especially clingy. It’s not that he cared what others thought, PDA just wasn’t really his _thing_. He never _thought_ about wanting to hold hands in public. He told Prompto once that he thinks it’s because he wants to save all of that for the private moments he spends with the person he cares about.

The boy in question was rather pleased with the recent attention and Noctis’ constant want to be close to him, but he couldn’t help but hate it when he thought about the fact that he was probably wanting so much contact because he wanted to feel a little more human after the Ring incident the day before.

The king beside him must notice his apprehension, because he slows their pace from a stroll to a wander and bumps him lightly with his shoulder.

“Hey,” he says, “are you doing ok?”

Prompto lets slip a quiet laugh. “Me? I’m fine. The question is, _are you_?”

He doesn’t answer immediately, just tightens his grip on Prompto’s hand and purses his lips into a tight line.

“Yeah.” He says, even tighter. “Yeah I’m fine. I was kind of worried about how you’d, y’know, _see me_ after. That.”

“Noct, we hunt and fight daemons and creatures everyday- that’s what we were doing yesterday.” He doesn’t say aloud that it _was_ different though. It was inhumane. Like Noctis had said, it felt like cheating. But he doesn’t say that out loud- doesn’t need to, because he knows Noctis is already thinking the same thing. So instead, he just keeps talking. “The Ring doesn’t change anything about us. _You_ , I mean.” They’ve reached the balcony-like perimeter of Lestallum, and they both lean their forearms against the stone wall, their arms linked so they can still hold hands.

It’s another moment before Noct says with a smile “Yeah. I knew you’d say that.” He turns and kisses the blonde lightly on the cheek, and doesn’t move away. So Prompto turns his head and kisses him directly, a gentle promise as if to say _yeah. And I meant it._

After a moment, Noct pulls away and knocks their foreheads together, and they hold eye contact when he starts to speak again.

“Were you scared?”

Prompto tries not to stiffen, but he knows he’s failed when Noctis’ hand tightens and his brow pinches in worry.

“Not of you.” He says honestly, and places another chaste kiss on Noct’s lips. “More like for you. I hadn’t realised just how much… _control_ it has. Not of you. I knew you were still there, and I trust you with it.” He ignores the way Noct stiffens at that. Because he does. He always will. “Just, the literal control it _gives_ of other life you know? It almost seems unfair but… with the daemons. We need it. It’ll be useful, I guess. Just like it was yesterday.”

Noctis doesn’t answer, he only keeps his eyes trained on Prom’s- calculating, searching to see if there are any lies or hesitations, but he doesn’t find any. He never could with him. Prompto is too willing to show everything to Noct, and he could never lie to him, even if he wanted to.

Like he mentioned: he can never deny his king anything.

Said king sighs and flicks his eyes away, turning his head to look over the stone balcony but pressing the side of his body closer to Prompto, who doesn’t tear his eyes away from his boyfriend. The view is much better that way.

Prompto gets side-tracked, suddenly wondering whether _boyfriend_ is the right word to use for the two of them. They’re certainly more than friends, but the b-word seems too immature for what they have. He wants to say lovers, but to him that makes it sound like they do nothing but… _frot_. Chocobros makes it seem like they’re bro-zoning each other.

He’s wondering about whether he should ask if _chocobuddies_ is too weird of a term when Noctis speaks again.

“I didn’t know whether I could hold myself properly yesterday, you know.” He says, eyes scanning the line where the light of the setting sun meets land. The hazy light of the sunset casts a pink/orange hue across his features, and Prompto almost gets lost in the view again but then takes his words into account.

“With the Coeurls?”

“With the Ring.”

Prompto waits.

“It’s just as I said that night at the haven. I got lost in how _easy_ it is to use it, and how easy it is to get lost watching the lights and…” He blinks, looking down at their twined fingers instead of the sun, and then at the hand that holds the Ring instead of Prompto’s hand. “I almost let the Ring have that control over me as well as the Coeurls and it’s _so_ horrible I just. Hate it. I hate that it exists and that I have to use it.”

“Noct,” Prompto says sternly. “You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. We’ve already told you that it isn’t important to use it as a _constant_ weapon if you’re not ready yet; you have us.”

“No, Prom, I don’t want to. I _need_ to use it.”

“No, you _need_ to eat food and drink water.” He turns them so that Noct must look at Prompto directly as he speaks. “You _need_ sleep and rest. You _need_ to take care of yourself and let _us_ help take care of _you_.” He rests his hand on Noctis’ cheek, his voice and features softening as he says, “You _need_ to let yourself be happy sometimes too. Do what you can for yourself as well as for other people. You don’t need to use the Ring.”

The only sound for a few beats is their breathing mingling with the wind that whips their hair against their face.

“I love you, you know.” Noctis says, eyes not tearing away from Prompto’s. “I love you. And I don’t want anything to happen to you. And that’s playing a large part in why I’m so scared to use this thing. It’s why I rarely let you hold the hand that I’m wearing the Ring on. Because I want it to have nothing to do with you.” He runs his gloved hand along Prom’s cheek, and smoothes it backwards to run through his hair gently. “I was so torn between having you come along for this journey. Happy because obviously I couldn’t bear to be without you for so long but… terrible. One because of- of Luna. When she was still…” He trails off and shakes his head. “But also, because all of this is going to be dangerous. I _know_ you can take care of yourself, but that won’t ever stop me from worrying. You’re here not because I want you to be, but because you chose to be, and that makes me so _so_ happy, but so worried.”

Choice. Prompto’s choice. It’s always been his choice when it came to Noct. He always let Prompto _choose_ what he wanted. But he’s only ever wanted Noct.

He answers by letting him pull Prompto forward by his waist, and kissing him fiercely.

“I know.” He breathes into Noct’s mouth. And he does- he just needs the reassurance sometimes. “I know. But we’re okay. I love you too.”

The blonde lets himself melt into the embrace, and lets Noct tuck the blonde’s head into his shoulder so that they’re closer. He presses his nose into Noct’s neck and winds his arms around his waist.

They stand and sway together slightly like that for what feels like several minutes, but could have been hours. Time moves too quickly when they’re together, Prompto thinks. He’s always left wanting more.

And Prompto appreciates the warmth of his soulmate’s body against his too much to pull away when he hears Noct whisper into his hair. “I _have_ to use it.”

 

~

 

And he does.

Noctis uses the Ring frequently from then on out. It starts as a few times a week, turning into once every day, until his stamina with his magic is powerful enough for him to use it for a few hunts a day.

And yeah, at first, it still took its toll. At first, he still craved Prompto’s touch on demand to ground him to the earth again, and still needed reassurance that he was still _Noct_. He was still in control. He couldn’t do anything for the daemons, but help them move on.

But slowly, he started to grow numb to the worry and fear of it.

At first, Prompto just thought he was getting stronger, gathering more trust in himself that he _was_ human, he wasn’t a _monster_ , and that he _was_ in control, because he stopped needing constant touches from him. He stopped holding his hand in the market, and resting his hand on Prom’s thigh in the car, and stopped the forehead touches and hugs to ground himself after the fights where he used the Ring.

This was normal. Although slightly disappointed at the lack of attention, Prompto wasn’t worried because this was how Noct always was; keeping these sensitive, loving and emotional interactions for just the two of them.

 

But then came the day they were hunting at the Vesperpool.

The Regalia was low on gas, so Gladio proposed that they spent four or five days carrying out hunts and errands on foot before deciding to fill her up. They all agreed that maybe a few days of extra legwork would do them some good, so they went along with it and set up a camping site in the Vesperpool that they would call home for the next few nights.

The first two days were fine, despite some minor complaining from Noct about fatigue. They walked the miles between Lestallum and the Vesperpool picking up hunts and carrying them with a subtle hum of heat, and Noct even spent the first evening fishing with Prompto, the pair of them sat cross-legged, shoulder-to-shoulder on the edge of the deck as they spoke about everything and nothing.

The only  _off_ thing about those first two days was that Noct fought  _every_ battle with the Ring. The others didn't see him summon anything other than a fishing rod.

Then on the third day, they all woke early to find it was already pelting with rain. It was too heavy for Ignis to cook them anything, and he was still learning to cook with the way his eyesight was broken, so they walked to Lestallum on empty stomachs in the downpour to pay for breakfast.

That was enough to put Noctis in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

They squelched to and from the Vesperpool five times, as was their collectively decided limit for the days that they’d spend there considering the walk lasted over an hour, and it was getting to be late evening when they were at Lestallum for what they’d hoped was the final time that day.

Noct was getting kind of pissy, complaining that he hadn’t had dry feet for the past few days because of the lakes and puddles they were putting up with in their current predicament, and at the fact that nobody was giving him time to heal his blisters before they were walking about and making new ones.

“We’re _all_ tired, asshat, today’s been rough on _all of us_. And blisters never bothered you before, stop whining.” Gladio had growled.

He was being as straightforward and snappy as the others wanted to be with Noct- and he was right. They were hunters out here, a few blisters, rain and aching limbs were nothing to them. Noct was probably the most used to this with how much time he’d spent with Gladio training to camp and survive outside, so his bad attitude to this was unusual. Especially considering the fact that he’d matured a lot since they first left Insomnia for Altissia- this level of temper and his constant tantrum was actually becoming out of character for Noctis. Hell, Prompto thought _he_ was a pisspot about stuff like this.

They were just receiving their reward for their most recent hunt, and were just about to make the final trek back to the Vesperpool, when the tipster told them to hang on a moment.

“I… actually have another uhh… _thing_ for you guys if you wouldn’t mind helping me out?” He’d said, looking between the four of them.

“We’re done for the day, go bother someone else.” Noctis snapped, not bothering to look at the guy as he started to storm away.

Gladio scowled and tugged at the collar of Noct’s jacket to stop him from walking away. “I know you’re in a pissy mood today, _your highness_ , but being an ass to people won’t make everything better.” He’d growled.

Ignis turned to the tipster, his face still cool but slightly apologetic. “My apologies. We _were_ about to turn in for the day. As you can see, some of us are getting rather restless.” He gestured to Noct, who shot him a nasty scowl, before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ah, I’m so sorry.” The guy said. “I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t rather urgent.”

“How urgent are we talking here?” Gladio asked, pulling harshly on Noct’s jacket to stop him from trying to scramble away.

“Well, my son is making a trip to the Myrlwood dungeon in the early hours of tomorrow morning. He isn’t much of a hunter though and I’m worried about him coming across something really nasty.” He sighs, eyes flicking to the guys, but not landing on Noct. “H-he isn’t venturing too deeply inside. I was wondering if you would mind just getting rid of whatever’s in the first few rooms?” When he sees the uncertainty in their eyes, the tipster rushes to add. “I-I’ll pay handsomely. And grant you to unlimited free afternoon meals here at my restaurant whenever you visit. Please.”

Prompto had already decided that yes, he definitely wanted to help. He’d decided even before the offering- but he still turned to the others to confirm what they wanted to do.

“I think we can manage one more hunt...” Iggy said, leaving his sentence open for the others to contribute.

“Yeah, we’re here to help. We can make one more run. Besides we need a little more daemon training.” Gladio agreed before turning to the other two.

It wasn’t a surprise when Noct immediately shook his head. “Nope. I vote no. Actually, I vote we don’t even walk back to Vesperpool- _I_ vote we stay here and crash at the hotel.” He didn’t even let the others take in his response before he spun around to turn to Prompto. “You agree, right Prom? How about we stay here and share an actual _bed_.” He said the last part with a small, feral smirk, and it gave Prompto chills for all the wrong reasons. This… wasn’t Noct.

Prompto opened his mouth to answer, but found that no words would come out. He turned to the others, who were looking at him with pinched brows. He looked at the tipster who was looking increasingly worried by the moment. Then back to Noctis, who was torn between glaring and smirking at him.

“I- I guess uhh-” He started, but couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Of course you do.” Noct said. “Prompto and I vote no, that means it’s split, and we always said that split decisions meant no. C’mon Prom-”

He could never deny his prince anything. So as pained and torn as he felt, he let Noct grab a hold of his hand and start to tug him away.

Gladio wasn’t having any of that.

“I don’t think so.” He tried and failed to swat Noctis’ hand away, but still pinned him into standing still by gripping his shoulder. “Where was the freewill in that choice, _prince_.” Gladio only ever uses royal titles to hiss at Noct and piss him off. And it _always_ worked. Prompto hated it.

“I think I know what my boyfriend wants.” Noct glared, his hand tightening around Prompto’s, who only flinched when the metal of the Ring cut into his palm.

No. He couldn’t stand that.

He gently pried his hand away to hold it himself, looking at the tipster rather than the others when he spoke. “Actually, I think we should help. I-I’m fine with another hunt.” He wouldn’t let himself look at Noct just yet, just at the tipster as his eyes widened hopefully.

“Then it’s settled.” Ignis announced. “We’ll return within a couple of hours hopefully with good news.”

And that was it. The tipster thanked them, and they were on their way back to the Vesperpool for their final hunt.

Prompto was torn between standing as far away from Noct as possible, or as close to him as possible as they walked down the road. He settled for the latter in hopes that being near him would snap Noct back from wherever he’d lost himself in his own head, but he wouldn’t even look at him, and that hurt.

 

It was already late and gradually getting darker when they’d arrived at Lestallum to collect the earnings for their “final” hunt, so it wasn’t surprising when they encountered a group of daemons halfway through their walk to the Vesperpool.

For the first few minutes of their first fight, they used their weapons and a few of Iggy’s strategy attempts to get rid of them. But Noctis must have gotten bored, because he used the Ring in quick succession, face bored as his eyes glowed brightly and the daemons disappeared.

The others didn’t move for a moment, only watched as Noct shrugged and continued walking down the road.

They shot a glance at each other before following.

 

Now, Prompto’s no daemon expert, but he’s pretty sure taht he knows them well enough to notice that this was unsual. It seemed like they’d walk for three or four minutes, and then another hoard of daemons would erupt from the group or jump them.

“This is getting real old real quick.” Gladio said on the seventh group what felt like only a few metres, summoning his sword.

Noct had already used the Ring for the past six times, and because of that Prompto was pretty certain that he’d be likely taking a break from there on out.

But nope. Prompto had only just summoned his gun when Noctis sighed loudly, and glared as he popped the daemons out of existence. When he finished though, and he continued walking down the muddy trail towards the Vesperpool entrance, the others noticed that his arm was still covered in that ash-like substance that usually flakes away pretty much immediately.

“Uh… Noct?” Prompto asks, jogging to keep up with his angry stalk down the trail. “Noct, babe, your... your arm.”

But again, Noctis refused to look back to his friend, and started walking faster, just clenching his grey fist tighter by his side.

 

They take shortcuts to try and get to the Myrlwood quicker, but that meant wading through a lake at thigh level. This pissed Noctis off more, and whenever a new group of enemies appeared, he made a louder, more frustrated noise, and got rid of them.

“Why is there so much _fucking_ water. Why are they fucking _stalking_ us?” He mumbled this as he squelched up onto the mud again, but slipped in it and landed on his hands and knees, his nose inches away from the ground.

“Ugh for _crying out loud_ I hate this place. I fucking _hate_ this place.” He growled, swaying as he stood up and stalked towards the dungeon.

No-one wanted to answer him. Nobody wanted to say _anything_. But Ignis, ever the wiser one, stopped the group when they arrived at the Myrlwood dungeon entrance.

“Noct.” He said, low and stern enough that he stopped walking. “Noct, before we go in there, I think you should take off the Ring.”

Prompto and Gladio looked at each other in worry, but stood closer to Ignis and watched as Noct rolled his eyes and finally, _finally_ looked at them directly.

It wasn’t pretty though. Prompto had to suppress his gasp when he saw that his eyes were still bright and crimson, and he wasn’t even using the damn Ring. The ash that was clinging to his hand and arm disappeared underneath his shirt, then reappeared at his neck, and he was scowling, mouth partly open in a snarl.

“I’ll do what I want, when I want, and I want to get this damn thing _over_ with so I can get the money and _go to sleep_.” He spat, then looked Prompto up and down. “And you can stop looking at me like there’s something _wrong_ with me. Y’know what, just- just _stop_. Stop looking at me.” He spins on his heel and starts storming down the dungeon steps. “Just _stop_ all of it, don’t come near me.”

And as much as it hurt, and as close to tears that Prompto is to see the man he loves acting like this, he _physically_ can’t deny his king anything.

So he let Gladio shake his head and storm after him, and stayed close to Ignis’s side as they made their way slowly down the steps whilst the other two ran off.

 

The hunting went just as well- and as quickly- as can be expected. The others didn’t have to summon their weapons once, because despite Gladio’s warnings and guttural disapproving grunts, Noct just stormed through the cavern and picked off every daemon that he saw.

By the time they were making their way back though, the Ring was taking longer to kill anything that Noctis aimed it towards, and he was panting heavily with a wheezing that made Prompto worry if something was wrong with his lungs.

 

Then, it was when they’d emerged from the dungeon just past midnight when things hit rock bottom. Not two minutes of walking and a Red Giant tore its way into their path.

Noctis just shouted at it.

“ _What?_ What do _you want_?” He yelled, pointing his hand at the daemon. “Go. Away. I’m sick of the sight of _daemons_.”

But when he tried to drain its life away, it wouldn’t work. The lights were dancing around its neck, and sure it was moving a lot slower, but it was still stalking towards Noctis at an alarming rate.

“ _Ughhhhh_.” He groaned, his anger making it increase in volume.

“Noct-” Prompto finally said, having enough of… well, everything. “Noct I think you should let us handle this.” He says as Gladio summons his sword and Ignis summons his lance.

Noct doesn’t answer, only shakes his hand harder. The Red Giant isn’t dying though, and Gladio has started swinging his sword at the smaller daemons that are closing in on them.

“ _Noct_.” He tries again, louder. “Noct, please, just-”

“Nobody _asked you._ ” He finally yells back, face red and eyes glowing brighter than headlights, before he spins around again. “Why won’t it _move?!_ ” He screams, holding his wrist with his other hand to stop it from quaking too much.

“Fine. _You asked for this_.” He growls at the daemon, pulling out an elixir and downing it in one, before raising his hand to point directly at the sky.

“Noct, what are you doing?!” Ignis worries aloud, whipping his head around and taking a small step back. Prompto feels it too, feels the sudden shift in the air as geometric patterns start to glow in the air around Noctis.

“I’m getting rid of this son of a bitch.” He grits through his teeth, summoning a ball of pure white light above his head. The others can only stare, and take a generous step away from him as the energy of the pulsing light creates a draft, wafting Noctis’ hair around his face, and lifting his feet off the floor a few centimetres.

His mouth is clamped shut, but he’s groaning, and it’s loud and painful as the ball grows bigger.

“Alterna.” Ignis mutters beneath his breath, but Prompto is close enough that he hears it clearly.

 _This_ is Alterna. This is the part of the Ring that Noct had tried to hide from the others- refused to use, or was too frightened of it to ever use again after Gralea. _This_ part of the Ring wasn’t stopping the daemons from moving, wasn’t dragging them towards Noct, but scaring them as it started to tear open a hole behind them. Noct yelled in what sounded like either pain or anger as he pulled his arm down again, throwing the light forward so the small tear in reality stretched open into a large, ominous hole of pitch black. The small draft turned into a powerful wind that clawed at Prompto and the others, who stayed behind Noctis.

Not only that though, it turned from what felt like a strong wind to a tornado-like gale. A hurricane that was pulling the daemons in towards the black hole, forcing them to claw at the ground and let out deafening shrieks.

It was too much for Prompto. He could hardly look when Noct used _Death_. This was too far.

He closed his eyes, screwing them closed and slapping his hands over his ears to try and block out the bawling of their enemies. His knees buckled, and he was halfway between standing and crouching as he heard Gladio yelling at Noct to _stay with us._

It feels like hours, but it’s probably only a few seconds before it all stops. His hair stops whipping at his face, the blinding light behind his eyelids fades, and Prompto hears a thud nearby and loud, heavy gasps for breath.

When he opens his eyes, Noct is on his knees, sat back onto his feet and staring at his hands. He’s heaving, and Prompto shakes with relief when the ash flakes away to reveal the flesh of Noct’s arm, and the cherry colour of his eyes fades to his blue, but so dark it’s near obsidian.

He can’t help himself. He _knows_ he’s... he’s _back._ Because yes, Noct wasn’t the one that was with them for the past several hours- it wasn’t _their_ Noct. So he stumbles the final few steps forwards, and drops to his knees in front of him before pulling his shoulders against his chest.

He feels Noct’s shoulders shake beneath his hands as his arms lift to hug Prompto back, his fingers slack but doing their best to tighten in his jacket. They're failing, so he ends up just pawing at Prompto’s back.

“It’s okay.” Prompto whispers into Noct’s neck, tears rolling down his face as he presses long, chaste kisses on whatever he can reach of him. “It’s okay, you’re back. I’m-” He pauses as Noct lets a loud sob loose against Prompto. “I-I’m sorry for not trying to pull you back sooner.” Noctis shakes his head and tries to speak, but can’t through the heavy breathing and sobs caught in his throat.

The others let them sit there for a moment, before Gladio walks over and speaks to them without looking directly.

“I’m gonna’... take Ignis back to the haven, then the Regalia back to Lestallum.” He says, running his hand along his neck. “I’ll fill her up whilst I speak to the tipster and… that way we can leave tomorrow.”

He shuffles a little, then pats Noctis on the back- who still hasn’t moved from pressing his forehead into Prompto’s shoulder. “S’good to have you back, Noct.” When he guides Ignis away, Iggy manages to rest a soothing hand on Noct’s shoulder in passing, before they’re walking away.

The two of them sit there for a few minutes longer, Prompto running his hand along Noct’s back in soothing circles, and whispers sweet nothings and comforting words against his neck and hair.

“I’m sorry.” Noct finally mumbles, leaning back enough that he can face Prompto properly. His eyes are rimmed with red, but Prompto almost whimpers at the fact that they’re _blue_ again. Not black, not purple or red, _blue_. Prompto’s favourite colour. “I’m sorry about… Lestallum and… e-everything.” Fresh tears roll down his cheeks when he stutters, and Prompto shouldn’t really be pointing out how red and damp Noct’s face is when Prompto probably looks worse.

“Don’t. It’s okay. It wasn’t you.” He rests their foreheads together, but keeps his eyes open so he can consider Noct’s. He doesn’t ever want to miss the blue of them again.

At his words, Noct looks down at his hand, and doesn’t hesitate to take the Ring off and tuck it in his jacket pocket, before taking both of Prompto’s hands in his.

They don’t speak again as they stand up, the only sound being the pop of their knees and the squelch of the mud as they walk back to the campsite.

 

 

Noctis didn’t speak much for the rest of that evening, and nobody pried him for questions.

That night, Gladio didn’t make fun of him when Noctis didn’t wait until they’d turned the tent’s lantern off to crawl into Prompto’s arms and lie down on his chest. And Prompto didn’t think twice before tightening his arms around him and planting a soft kiss to the crown of his head as he sobbed quietly into his chest.

 

Ignis let them sleep in the next morning.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i felt like i was writing about an ffxv x lord of the rings crossover halfway through this yknow jfc  
> thanks for reading
> 
> i got a tumblr: nikarte.tumblr.com


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